Contains:  Solar system body or event
Journey of Mars and its retrograde motion - 2018, Prabhakaran

Journey of Mars and its retrograde motion - 2018

Journey of Mars and its retrograde motion - 2018, Prabhakaran

Journey of Mars and its retrograde motion - 2018

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This image is a composite of several images captured from March till December 2018 which shows a different perspective of its journey, As our Earth and Mars orbits around the Sun distance between these planets changes, as a result, Mars appears bigger and a few months later it appears smaller, this composite shows Mars’ steady increase in its apparent size from March till July (8.5 arc seconds to 24.3 arc seconds) and steady decrease in its apparent size from August till December (24.3 arc seconds to 8.5 arc seconds). On July 27 Mars arrived at the Perihelic Opposition.

Mars also experienced a global dust storm in June and July which later got settled down in August, as a result, images of mars between June and August look featureless.

Down below the lineup, Mars exhibits retrograde motion in its orbital path as seen from earth, Mars’ Retrograde happens every two years, Retrograde motion of Jupiter or Mars or Saturn in our sky is an illusion caused by Earth’s passing these slower-moving outer worlds. Mars appears as it moves forward, goes through retrograde, and then resumes its forward motion. The orbits that Earth and Mars follow don't quite lie in the same plane. It’s slightly tilted with respect to each other and due to the tilt as it completes its retrograde motion its path in the sky either makes a loop or an open zigzag depending on the planet's orientation.

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Journey of Mars and its retrograde motion - 2018, Prabhakaran